Edinburgh University dominated the inaugural Spire Murrayfield Hospital Universities and Colleges Cup Finals at the sun-kissed celebration of rugby on Wednesday.

Over 500 rugby players descended on the six pitches of Broughton Rugby Club with over 40 teams entering six separate 15, seven and ten-a-side men’s and women’s cup competitions.

Player retention at the 17-24 age-band is a key Scottish Rugby objective with the new cup finals day being seen as the first of many events created to address the player drop out at that crucial age.

Universities, colleges, medical societies and the armed forces came together for the first time at varying levels of ability and experience. The more practiced individuals focused their efforts on the invitational tournament while more relaxed and fun rugby was played in the extremely popular intramural competitions.

Scottish Rugby’s development manager (17-24 year olds), Lindsey Booth, said: “We’ve chosen a series of one day tournament cups because it means you don’t have to play for the entire season, it’s 7-a-side, you can get together with your mates and play a whole load of rugby for one day at one big venue.

“It’s a party atmosphere and I think that really appeals to young people because it’s not a lot of pressure or a large commitment.”

Edinburgh University entered an impressive 15 teams in the competition. While their top sides took second place in the invitational Scottish Student Premier Cup and the 15-a-side BUCS Scottish Conference Cup Final, the numerous intramural sides came away with three trophies from the remaining four tournaments on the day.

Edinburgh University’s intramural sides Dutch Courage, Edinburgh Medics and RDVC Women won the Scottish Student Cup, Student Challenge Cup and Emerging Students Cup trophies respectively while Dundee University Women won the Scottish Student Cup.

Borders College were the day’s surprise package but, with several players coming from the College’s performance sport programme, it was no shock for the visitors who walked away with the invitational Scottish Student Premier Cup with five wins out of six.

The matches then came to a head for the well supported 15-a-side final which saw Glasgow Caledonian defeat Edinburgh University 24-7 to claim the BUCS Scottish Conference Cup.

Speaking at the event, head of community rugby, Colin Thomson, said: “This is a huge area of potential growth for us. A big drop-off area we have is when young people move from school and club rugby into university rugby.

“It’s much more than creating a university first XV, it’s about getting as many people playing as possible in universities and colleges and bringing them to events like this so that there’s a focus on an event that they all enjoy –  and it’s good to see the young girls and guys having great fun out there.

“At an early age, young people play rugby because there’s a good team ethos, it’s a good social sport – there’s a real sense of community around what they do at that age.

“When they go to college or university they’re suddenly out of that peer group so this is about creating opportunities for them to continue to enjoy that peer atmosphere, socialise with new people, and stay and play the game – because beyond player participation, these are the people who will be the volunteers, club coaches and presidents of the future.”

The Spire Murrayfield Hospital Universities and colleges Cup Winners

SMH Scottish Student Premier Cup Winners – Borders College
SMH Scottish Student Cup Winners – Dutch Courage
SMH Student Challenge Cup Winners – Edinburgh Medics
SMH Scottish Student Cup Winners – Dundee University (W)
SMH Emerging Students Cup Winners – RDVC (W)
BUCS Scottish Conference Cup Winners – Glasgow Caledonian University

SMH Scottish Student Premier Cup Winners – Borders College
Telford College 5-26 Borders College
Edinburgh University 1 15-5 Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University 12-7 Telford College
Borders College 21-5 Edinburgh University 1
Telford College 17-7 Edinburgh University 1
Heriot-Watt University 5-17 Borders College
Borders College 22-5 Telford College
Heriot-Watt University 0-29 Edinburgh University 1
Telford College 14-5 Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh University 1 21-10 Borders College
Borders College 31-0 Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh University 1 17-7 Telford College

SMH Scottish Student Cup Winners – Dutch Courage
Edinburgh University  6-12 SAC
Telford College  0-38 Dutch Courage
SAC 12-19 Napier University 1
Edinburgh University  5-53 RDVC
Napier University 1 5-26 Dutch Courage
SAC 14-29 RDVC
Edinburgh University 5-24 Telford College
RDVC 19-5 Napier University 1
SAC 24-12 Telford College
RDVC 31-12 Telford College
Dutch Courage 33-0 Edinburgh University
Telford College 22-19 Napier University 1
Dutch Courage 31-0 SAC
Napier University 1 7-15 Edinburgh University
RDVC 5-14 Dutch Courage

SMH Student Challenge Cup Winners – Edinburgh Medics
SMH Student Challenge Cup Winners (M) Pool 1
Glasgow University Engineers 47-0 The Buffalos
Napier University 2 0-26 Edinburgh Medics
Glasgow Univesity Engineers 47-5 Napier University 2
Edinburgh Medics 43-7 Glasgow University Engineers
The Buffalos 5-27 Napier University 2
Edinburgh Medics 58-0 The Buffalos

SMH Student Challenge Cup (M) - Pool 2
Aberdeen Medics 1 52-5 Edinburgh University Engineers
Edinburgh University Engineers 39-7 Aberdeen OTC
Adam Smith College 0-33 Aberdeen Medics 1
Aberdeen OTC 21-15 Adam Smith College
Aberdeen OTC 0-46 Aberdeen Medics 1
Adam Smith College 12-27 Edinburgh University Engineers

SMH Student Challenge Cup (M) - Pool 3
East of Scotland RAF Student Cadets 15-27 Imes Mamluks
Imes Mamluks 17-5 Heriot-Watt University 2
Heriot-Watt University 2 5-19 QMU
QMU 36-0 East of Scotland RAF student Cadets
Heriot-Watt University 2 5-5 East of Scotland RAF student Cadets
QMU 24-0 Imes Mamluks

SMH Student Challenge Cup (M) - Pool 4
Dundee Medics 0-12 Aberdeen Medics 2
Purple Cobras 30-5 Ewing Pirates
Dundee Medics 0-20 Purple Cobras
Ewing Pirates 22-0 Dundee Medics
Aberdeen Medics 2 7-17 Purple Cobras
Ewing Pirates 5-7 Aberdeen Medics 2

Knock Out Stages
Edinburgh Medics 39-0 Aberdeen Medics 2
Edinburgh Engineers  5-24 QMU
Purple Cobras 33-0 Imes Mamluks
Glasgow Engineers 24-29 Aberdeen Medics 1
   
Edinburgh Medics 35-15 QMU
Purple Cobras 30-24 Aberdeen Medics 1
   
Edinburgh Medics 39-5 Purple Cobras

SMH Scottish Student Cup Winners – Dundee University (W)
Glasgow University 1 10-22 St Andrews University
Stirling University 5-24 Dundee University
Dundee University 31-0 Glasgow University 1
St Andrews University 34-5 Stirling University
Dundee University 24-5 St Andrews University
Stirling University 0-26 Glasgow University 1

SMH Emerging Students Cup Winners – RDVC (W)
Heriot-Watt Uni/Murrayfield Wanders 22-0 Edinburgh Uni 7 Dwarfs
Edinburgh Uni 7 deadly Sins 15-10 East of Scotland RAF Cadets
RDVC 28-10 Heriot-Watt Uni/Murrayfield Wanders
East of Scotland RAF Cadets 20-5 Edinburgh Uni 7 Dwarfs
Heriot-Watt Uni/Murrayfield Wanders 5-5 Edinburgh Uni 7 deadly Sins
Edinburgh Uni 7 deadly Sins 5-7 RDVC
East of Scotland RAF Cadets 12-5 Heriot-Watt Uni/Murrayfield Wanders
RDVC 30-0 Edinburgh Uni 7 Dwarfs
Edinburgh Uni 7 Dwarfs 5-15 Edinburgh Uni 7 deadly Sins
East of Scotland RAF Cadets 0-31 RDVC

• Entry to the event was free to all teams and spectators

Competition information
Men’s
BUCS Scottish Conference Cup Final
Spire Murrayfield Hospital Scottish Student Premier Cup (invitational)
• 5 top Wednesday league sides and the 3 top colleges that run performance rugby courses (Telford, Borders, Cumbernauld)
Spire Murrayfield Hospital Scottish Student Cup (open to all)
Spire Murrayfield Hospital Men’s Challenge Cup (intramural/non-clubs/societies/fresher teams
Women’s
Spire Murrayfield Hospital Scottish Students Cup (open to all, 10-a-side)
Spire Murrayfield Hospital Emerging Women’s Cup (societies, non-clubs, new teams, and 7-a-side)

Participants
SMH Student Premier Cup (M) – Round Robin, 7-a-side (kick-off 12.30pm)
• Telford College 1
• Edinburgh University 1
• Stirling University
• Borders College
• Heriot-Watt University 1

SMH Student Cup (M) – Round Robin, 7-a-side (kick-off 12.30pm)
• Napier University 1
• Edinburgh University (3)
• Telford College 2
• Dundee Medics
• Scottish Agricultural College (SAC)
• Dutch Courage
• Royal Dick Veterinary College (RDVC)

SMH Student Challenge Cup (M) – 7-a-side, Pool stages/quarters/semis/final (kick-off 12.30pm)
• Edinburgh Officer Training Corp (OTC) – Army
• Aberdeen Officer Training Corp (OTC) – Army
• Aberdeen Medics 1
• Aberdeen Medics 2
• Edinburgh Medics
• Napier University 2
• Napier University 3
• East of Scotland RAF student Cadets
• Edinburgh University (4)
• Queen Margaret University (QMU)
• Heriot-Watt University 2
• Glasgow Engineers
• Adam Smith College (ASC)
• The Crown Jewels
• Power Raiders
• Buffalos
• Edinburgh Engineers
• Imes Mamluks
• Purple Cobras
• Ewing Pirates

SMH Student Cup (W) – Round Robin, 10-a-side, KO 2.30pm
• Edinburgh University
• East of Scotland RAF student Cadets
• Stirling University
• Dundee University
• St Andrews University
• Glasgow University 1

SMH Emerging Student Cup (W) – Round Robin, 7-a-side, KO 2.30pm
• Edinburgh Officer Training Corp (OTC) – Army
• Heriot-Watt/Murrayfield Wanders
• RDVC
• Glasgow University 2

BUCS Scottish Conference Cup Final (M)
Edinburgh University 2nd XV v Glasgow Caledonia University 1st XV (kick-off 4pm)